MCOFuture Forum 3: June 19, 2012Our Services, Taxes and Quality of Life

Topics:The MCOFuture Quiz: Services and Taxes - Don Vermillion - Director of Public Projects, Fitz Center and the University of Dayton

This presentation/quiz looks at how things are with respect to our services, taxes and quality of life here. What services are delivered by which entities, and how do those entities receive local taxes? We looked at how services in Montgomery County are organized and delivered, and how we pay for them. The services are:

Basic Infrastructure

On Demand

Quality of Life

Safety Net

Trash Services

Police/Fire/EMS

Parks & Recreation

Child Protection

Water

Justice Services

Libraries

Mental Health

Sewer

Zoning

Public Education (K-12)

Public Health

Roads

Homeless Shelters

Developmental Disabilities

GROUP DISCUSSIONS OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. Do we need a full range of public services to have a strong community and economy?

2. How effective and efficient are our public services? How should the services be delivered? How should the services be paid for — by local taxes, a broader tax base or some of each?

3. Which is more important: Keeping local control of services in your community and working for efficiency, or seeking to control the costs of administration and delivery via shared services and economies of scale?

4. Which is more important: Sustaining public services even if it requires paying more taxes, or holding down taxes even if it means reducing public services? Or is there another solution?

5. What changes, if any, should be considered to sustain services and/or control taxes?